Giving Thanks at Camp
- Check for food allergies and strong dislikes before planning. Provide alternatives for allergies and special diets
- Use the Canada Food Guide
- Ask girls for their input (e.g., older girls can make the menu)
- Plan simple meals so the girls can help cook
- Use different cooking methods
- Plan some fun meals – be creative!
- Girls need lots of water (think about adding juice crystals to the water to encourage girls if they are not drinking enough water)
- Girls need snacks between meals
- Allow extra food for emergencies
- Don’t always serve hot chocolate at night as the high sugar could make the girls more active
- Think about how you will refrigerate food – cooler/on site refrigerator
- Check to ensure you can drink the tap water
- All food needs to be kept in animal-proof containers when camping out. Store container up high or in the car (if you have the car onsite)>/li>
- Remember cooking utensils and tin foil
- Keep a record of how the meal went
- Encourage girls to make healthy choices, but you can’t change food habits over a weekend.
Level 1- Sparks
Prepare a meal that needs no fire
Hay box cooker, boil in a bag, solar cooking (weather permitting)
Here are some ideas to get you started:
Friendship Salad made of cut fruit and a sack of mini marshmallows
Celery sticks stuffed with peanut butter, cream cheese or cheese spreads
Sandwiches: use different kinds of bread, rolls, buns, bagels or even open-faced
Raw vegetables
Graham crackers spread with frosting made from a mix or from a can
Ice cream cones filled with instant pudding or homemade ice cream
Mix up some punch to top it off! |
Level 2 – Brownies
Hay box cooker, no utensil, one pot, stick, tin can stove, foil dinner, solar cooking
One-pot meal can be your favorite casserole cooked outdoors
Some other Girl Guide favorites to try are:
campfire stew
fractured tacos
casualty (a huge omelet with bacon and potatoes cooked in)
tuna casserole
macaroni and cheese with diced hot dogs |
 Level 3 – Guides and older
Open fire, foil, pie iron, box oven, solar cooking, stick
A foil packet may be placed directly on the coals. Use heavy duty foil or two layers of the lighter weight to form foil packages. Seal well on all edges. You will need a pair of long handled tongs for turning packets and removing them from the fire. The packets can contain a complete meal or a side dish. Slice vegetables thin so they will cook through. Cooking time depends on kind of food, heat of fire, and size of package. Use outdoor cookbooks for reference or experiment a bit. Open one packet to test for doneness. If it is not cooked enough, seal it up and put it back for longer cooking.
Some examples are:
potatoes and onion with a pat of butter
fish, hamburger pattie, or chicken leg with sliced vegetables
sliced ham or spam with pineapple and sweet potatoes.
core an apple and fill with cinnamon, raisins, and brown sugar |
Soap the outside bottom and side of your pots and pans before putting on the fire. This will reduce the amount of scouring you will need to do when cleaning up. Liquid soap is easier to use than bar soap
If cooking on a wood fire, wait for the flames to burn down. The coals are where the heat comes from. Also the flames will blacken the bottom and sides of the pot making clean up more difficult
When using a propane or gas stove you have a variety of heat settings; wide open is not the best way to cook
Just because what you are cooking is black on the outside it does not mean that it is cooked all the way through. Check the insides before serving
If you continually have burnt on the outside and raw on the inside food, lower the cooking temperature so the food will cook more evenly
Get copies of your favorite recipes at home and suggest them for camping trips
Follow the recipe and box directions to prepare food
Do as much preparation as possible at home. Dice your onions, green peppers, etc. at home and store them in plastic bags. Place in the cooler before leaving
Vegetables such as celery, carrots, radishes, cabbage, and lettuce will keep fresh longer if wrapped in foil and several layers of brown paper bag
A little dab of butter in oatmeal while it’s cooking will make pot easier to clean
Pancakes are less likely to stick if you add a tablespoon of melted butter to each 1.5 cups of batter
Drop a small pat of butter or one tablespoon of oil in your spaghetti water to prevent it from boiling over
By using lids whenever possible, you will greatly reduce the cooking time required for many foods
At or near sea level, foods cook quickly. Care must be taken to prevent burning
Form hamburgers, biscuits or cookies with a clean tin can, glass or cup
Use fingernail polish to mark names of participants on foil dinners. It won't burn off in the coals
Do not spray non-stick coatings for pans on a hot skillet/pan or near coals or flames. The spray can ignite causing the can to explode
Vegetables can be warmed directly in their own can, but you must first open the lid part way to vent off steam otherwise, the can might explode
Adding a pinch or two of salt to water when boiling a cracked egg will prevent the whites from running out, or wrap the eggs tightly in aluminum foil
Mix instant drinks in a screw top plastic bottle
When popping corn, you'll get better results if you place corn in the freezer for a day, or as long as you can, beforehand
Keep water boiled over a wood fire free of that smoky taste by throwing a clean sliver of wood into the water while you’re boiling it
You need even heat for griddle cooking, so use the griddle only over coals or on a stove. It won't work successfully over a campfire
If the day is hot and breezy and you want to keep your drinking water cold, wrap the water container in a wet cloth and hang it in the open from a branch of a tree. It's as good as putting it in a regular refrigerator
Cover the ice in a picnic cooler with foil to help it last longer
Keep the water in your canteen cooler by wrapping the canteen in foil
Because foil-wrapped foods tend to scorch where they are in direct contact with the coals, use a double wrapping of heavy duty foil and turn food frequently during cooking
When it is time for washing up, a crumpled ball of foil makes an excellent scouring pad for pots and pans
To keep marshmallows from burning dip them in water before holding them over the flame
It’s important to remember everyone’s faith and beliefs before singing a song of Thanks.
Some
examples that can be used:
Johnny Apple Seed
Ooooh, the
Earth is good to me (clap, clap)
And so I thank the
Earth (clap, clap)
For giving me the things I need, the sun and the rain and the apple seed
The
Earth is good to me.
JOHNNY APPLESEED, (clap, clap)
Zippy, zappy
(chant)
I’m zippy, zippy, zippy,
I’m zappy, zappy, zappy,
I’m H-A-P-P-Y,
I’m happy, happy, happy.
Let’s Eat!
I’m a Knife, Fork, Spoon, Spatula (Tune: If you’re Happy and You Know It)
I’m a knife, fork, spoon, spatula, cha-cha-cha
I’m a knife, fork, spoon, spatula, cha-cha-cha
I’m a knife, fork, spoon, I’m a knife, fork, spoon, I’m a knife, fork, spoon, spatula, cha-cha-cha
For The Food We Eat [adapted] Tune: Kum-Bah-Yah
For the food we eat, we thank you
For the friends we meet, kind and true
For the fun we share, all day through,
We thank you, we thank you.
Alphabet Grace [adapted] Tune: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
A-B-C-D-E-F-G I thank you for feeding me.
Girl Scout Morning Grace by Jinx McGuire, © 1996
We come together, under the sky
Stars of the night in our quiet eyes
We come together, ready to try
Promise and Law are the stars of our daylight: I will try